2005
John Elliot Kitagawa
Reorganizing a Corporate Size Parish for Mission
This thesis examines the processes and actions undertaken by the author, the lay leadership of the staff of St. Phillip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, Arizona, in order to reorganize this Corporate Parish for mission in the twenty-first century. The author followed a long-tenured rector. The author discusses how St. Phillip’s exhibited characteristics and dynamics of a “Family Church”, “Pastoral Church” and “Program Church” while being a “Corporate” sized parish of 3,000 plus members. The author writes about what he found a the beginning of his rectorship, what he, the lay leadership and staff has been working on, and what remains to be done in developing a missional parish. In each of these three chapters, he touches on the leadership structure, the vestry, the staff, the finances and the emotional system of the parish.